Evaluation of the perception of cultural competency assessment instrument for allied health students.

BACKGROUND: A growing effort is aimed at reducing health disparities influenced by culturally based misinterpretations between patients and health professionals. There are few validated instruments to assess students' self-efficacy of cultural understandings that are linked to pre and post testing of educational interventions. PURPOSE: To evaluate the psychometric properties of an instrument that measures perception of self-efficacy with respect to cultural competency in allied health students. METHODS: The Perception of Cultural Competency Assessment (POCCA) was developed and subsequently evaluated for reliability and validity in a convenience sample of 135 students of allied health programs. RESULTS: The POCCA demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (a = .92) and 2-week test-retest reliability of (R = .78). Four sub-scales were identified by factor analysis that accounted for 63% of total variance. The subscale a coefficients ranged from .61 to .89, and inter-item correlations varied from (R = .41-53). POCCA total scores following an educational intervention were significantly higher compared to pre-test values (p<.00001). DISCUSSION: While these findings provide support for POCCA, more refinement is warranted. The challenge remains to improve the test-retest reliability and to expand the sample to evaluate its effectiveness in a broader context.